All About Food

Category: Italian

Pizza and Pasta, Mario and Luigi, AC and Inter Milan

  • Lime Street Cafe

    Lime Street Cafe

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    Unfortunately, Lime Street Cafe has closed its doors.

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    Rating:

    6.0 / 10
    Taste: 6.5 /10
    Price: $30 per couple
    Place: 7.5/10

    Review:

    This week, we were fortunate enough to score one of the ‘deal of the day’ websites. It was a $30 per couple meal for the value of $70 at Lime Street Cafe. At first we were puzzled on the kind of food we’d had, but it turned out we could order anything from the menu up to the value of $70. That really drove our interest through the roof. The food themselves seemed reasonably priced for a King Street Wharf restaurant.

    We ordered three appetisers and a salad. The first to arrive was Lightly Fried Calamari with rocket salad. It was too similar to my homemade deep fried calamari on a bed of rocket with a slice of lemon. Then we had Marinated Lamb Skewers. Although the skewers were pretty small, it was complemented with nice sauce.

    The next tapas didn’t look as appetising. It was Prawns, chorizo and rocket with balsamic dressing.  The chorizo was really dry and the salad was almost identical with all the sides of the day. Luckily, the prawns were to die for; it was cooked really perfectly. Similarly, Chicken Caesar Salad looked a bit of ordinary but it was the best tasting out of them all so far.

    When the pizzas came, we barely had a room on our table for them. We ordered Pizza Pesto Chicken and Marinara. Unfortunately, both of them really looked and tasted like Pizza coming out of those pizza chain restaurants. The pesto looked more like clusters of green goo with no visual on the chicken. Thanks to the squids, the Marinara looked a bit more presentable, but it was still on par with those ordinary pizzas.

    Our table was even more crowded when Seafood Risotto arrived. Yet again, it looked really bland and the risotto tasted like… well… steamed rice. Fortunately, we remembered the prawns’ taste from the previous dish and it was still the same. I really have no comment for the last dish of the day, Beef Lasagna. It’s just another ordinary dish. Not bad and not good…


    The final verdict: Granted that we did not have to pay full price for these dishes, but the taste just did not deliver. The first three dishes created the illusion that the nights were going to be a ‘great deal’ but eventually the Pizzas and pastas were sub par.

    Did you know?

    It’s worth checking all those deal of the day sites, granted that you might get a sub par experience once in a while, but it’s really worth to find out how they are with half the price, rather than paying the full amount.

    Location:

    60 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney, NSW 2000

    Website:

     

  • Café Gioia

    Café Gioia

    Rating:

    7.5 / 10

    8.0 for Andrea’s effort!

    Taste: 7.5 /10

    Price Range: $20 – $30

    Place: 7/10

    Review:

    Our friend, Tim, introduced us to this restaurant before I started this blog and we had a good impression of it. This time around, we decided to explore a bit more on the variety of menu they have. There were eight of us and we decided to get a four-person Antipasto, 2 large pizzas, a salad, Gnocchi, and Cannelloni. At the end of the day, they were more than enough to feed all of us.

    Interestingly, the pizzas came in first, Lungomare, to be exact. This gourmet-range pizza had the freshest of ingredients with Salmon as the main attraction. The next one was Leichhardt Special. This one was very similar to one of the famous Pizza chains, Super Supreme. All of their pizzas are cooked in wood-fire pizza oven but somehow the Lungomare was much better than Leichhardt Special.

    The next four dishes came at almost the same time, but luckily they were in the correct order. Salmon & Avocado Salad gave us a fresh and healthy salad with a hint of olives. What I like about it was the fact that there was a lot less ‘greens’ on the plate. The only salad in it was my all time favourite, Rockets!

    The Antipasto was a little bit different. They had a fixed price for the first one, but there was a far less incremental fee for more than one portion. Technically speaking, Antipasto is the Italian starter for a dinner. It should have been the first dish that hit the table. It’s an assortment of cured meats, variety of cheese, and veggies. The combination of it creates an excellent and fresh antipasto.

    The last two dishes were also great. First was Cannelloni. Two rectangular pastas filled with ricotta cheese (and possibly spinach and minced beef). It would be a good dish if the next one were not considerably better. Gnocchi Prawns and Asparagus was the pinnacle for the night. The combination of ultra-soft gnocchi and juicy prawns, served in orange-looking tomato sauce, was exquisite.

    By now you might be wondering who this Andrea is. He is our waiter for the night. Claimed to be from both side of Italy, this Interisti truly entertained us with his energy, enthusiasm, and humour. With his efforts, this restaurant deserves an 8.0!

    The final verdict: Everything that we ordered was great! From the perfect crust pizza, the invigorating Antipasto to the admirable Gnocchi! To top it off, the waiter gave us the perfect night with his positive personality.

    Did you know?

    Leichhardt is also known as the Little Italy in Sydney. It is famous for its Italian Quarter. Gioia is located on Leichhardt’s main street, Norton. They also have few private parking spaces, so if you’re early, you might be lucky!

    Location:

    126A Norton St, Leichhardt, NSW 2040

    Website:

    http://www.gioiacafe.com/

    Cafe Gioia on Urbanspoon